Conveyer.



G. D. FRANCISCO. CONVEYER.

f PPLICATION ULEB 920.9, mz

1,1 32,7 1 3. Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

5141x141 im j? I y SH01/"m GEORGE DANIEL FRANCISCO,

YACTUBING COMPANY,

OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO THE JEFFREY MANU- OF COLUMBUS, OHIO,

A CORPORATION OF OHIOY CONVEYER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 191 5.

Application tiled December 9, 1912. Serial No. 735,755.

new and useful Improvements in Convey` ers, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The invention relates to conveyers adapty ed for the carrying of articles which are manually supplied thereto at one place an which are released therefrom, preferably automatically, at another place.

The conveyer is particularly adapted for use in connection with the conveying of rubber tires from one place to another in a. tire factory.. The conveyer is provided with tongs which are normally open, and an article such as a rubber tire. may readily be moved up between the points of the tongs and, in coming in contact with a push rod, automatically cause the tongs to come together and securely hold the tire. A cam #unloading device is positioned at any desirable point and automatically causes the points of the tongs to separate and release the tire. While particularly adapted for this particular class of work, the device may be used with any articles where two arms or points on coming together engage either with one another or with the article itself and securely hold it.. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a conveyer of the sort above referred to with an improved automatic releasing means.

Another object is to provide in combination with the main chain or its equivalent a series of carriers or grapples each of which is adapted to be closed upon the movement of the article to be carried into or above its normal position.

AV further object is to provide in combination with the chain and the grapples an article-controlled grapple-closing'means and a motion-controlled grapplebpening means.

Still other objects will be apparent from the following specification.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a. diagrammatic view of a conveyer embodying my invention. Fig. Z is a detail side elevation of the conveyer tongs and unloading cam, the tongs being shown in dotted lines 1n their open position. Fig. 3 is asec- Vtion on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates a conveyer chain passing around the sprocket wheels 2 and 3 diagrammatically, illustrated in Fig. 1. A series trolley carriers indicated in general by tie numeral 4 are secured at intervals to thehaln andeach are adapted to grasp an article at one end of the chain trave and automatically discharge it at any suitable point.

The trolley carriers are made up of two vertical triangular shaped side plates 5 secured together by spacing bolts 6. The triangle is inverted and the two upper corners are bent inward and secured to the conveyer chain by pins 7 which serve both as lchain pintles and axles for the track wheels 8. The track wheels 8 roll on a double trackway 9 supported in any suitable manner. A hinge pin 10 extends through the apex of the triangular trolley carrier and pivotally carries two downward opening oppositely faced'tongs 11. The upper ends of the tongs 11 are extended in the form of arms 12 beyond the hinge point and are connected together by lthe toggle links 13 joined by the pin 14. The pin 14 extends outward through slots 15 in the side plates in the trolley carrier and has secured on its ends the two rollers 16. A vertically arranged rod 17 passes throu h an Opening in the hinge pin 10 and. at its ower end carries the shoe or push plate 18. A nut is threaded upon the upper end of the rod 17 above the hinge pin l() so as to prevent the rod dropping down through the opening. In order to hold the shoe or push late 18 in proper position, it is either keye or guided by means of a pin and slot with the o ening in the hinge pin 10. The weight o. the tongs or hooks is suilicient when the toggle is unlocked to cause their points to be held in Contact With each other. On'the other hand, when the toggle pin 14 is pushed downward so as to place it on the horizontal plane below the pins connecting the links 13 and arms 12, the tongs will then be forced into their outer disengaged position and will be held there by the toggle lock. The

push plate 18 and rod 17 are provided that in loading the tongs a tire 19 or similar article may be pushed upward against this plate thereby forcing the toggle lock open and upward allowing the tongs to drop with their own weight' and contact with each other. The tire will then be socurglywheld lill within the tongs and ready for carrying to the discharge point,

lr. will be observed that the rod 17 and the plate 1S are not. permanently connected with the toggle links or with the pin 14. The parts 17 and 18 are therefore not moved eX- cept when engaged by the tire or other article and consequently the tongs are left free to move freely under the action of gravity when released. T hey are not forced to carry the weight of the rod and plate or to overcome the friction or inertia thereof.

The discharging cam comprises two angle irons 20 pivoted on pins 2l to the outer sides of the track ways and downwardly inclined in the direction of chain travel. Their lower ends are riveted to brackets which have horizontally extending flanges through which pass bolts Q3 pivotally connected at their upper ends to the track ways. Springs 2.3 on the bolts and adjustable nuts 26 permit upward movement ot' the lower ends of the cams. The cams are so positioned that. when a trolley carrier approaches a section of the track on which the cam is mounted, the rollers 1G carried by the toggle pivot ll will engage the lower edges of the angle 20 of the cams and he forced downward. The forcing downward ot the toggle pivot 14 causes the tongs to open and release the tire -r other article which may be held within s embrace. The spring mounting of the lower ends of the cams 2O insures the forcing of the pivot pin 14 to its lowermost position without. however, causing any danger of binding or cramping of the parts. There will bc minor dillercnces between one carricr and another as to the position of the pin, the length of the slot, etc., and this resilicnt mounting of the cams insures uniform action of all ol the carriers and grap ples notwithstanding these minor differences.

The operation ot the trolley carrier is simple to thc extreme, and the closingof thc tongs can be performed wry rapidly. This permits the placing of the carriers vezv close together on the conveyor chain and greatly increases the capacity of the conveyer system.

l. The combination of a traveling endless chain. means for guiding the said chain in a fixed path, a series ot' carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of downwardppcning tongs pivoted on each carrier and adapted to close automatically, a device on cach carrier supplemental to the tongs for lockingl them open, and a trip on each carrier between the longs and supplemental lo them and serving to release the loflcing device and permit the tongs to close when engaged by an article thrust upward between the tony,"AVI at right angles to the lines ol' travel.

2. The conmma'on of a traveling endless chain, means for guiding the said chain in a xed path, a series of carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of downward-opening tongs pivoted on each carrier and adapted to close automatically, a device on each carrier supplemental to the tongs for locking them open, and a trip on each carrier between the tongs and supplemental to them and serving when engaged by an article thrust upward between the tongs to release the locking device and permit the tongs to close and support the article. the lower article engaging surface of the trip being considerably above the position of the said article when supported by the tongs.

3. The combination of a traveling endless chain guided for movement in a fixed path, a Series of carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of oppositely swinging downward-opening tongs pivoted to each of the carriers and automatically movable into their lower closed positions, a lool; on cach carrier for holdingr the tongs in their separated open positions, and means dependent upon the movement of the carriers for successively separating the tongs of the several pairs, the said means successi vely engaging the several locks positively and forcing them into their operative positions.

4,. TheI combination of a traveling endless chain guided for movement in a fixed path, a series of carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of oppositely swinging downward-opening tongs pivoted to each of the carriers and automatically movable into their lower closed positions, a lock on each carrier for holding the tongs in their separated open positions, means dependent upon the movement of the carriers tor successively separat-ing the tongs of the said pairs and for successively moving the said locks into their operative positions, and a lock releasing trip on each carrier engageable by an article to be carried when thrust upward between the tongs.

5. The combination of. a traveling end less chain guided for movement in a fixed path, a series of carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of oppositel'v swinging downwardppening tongs pivoted to eaehof the carriers and automatically movable into their lower closed positions, a pair of links on each carrier supplmnental to the tongs for moving them :in-:l tor locking in their separated open positions, means dependent upon the movement of the carriers for successively actuating the said pairs of links to separate the tongs of Athe said pairs and lock them in their separated open positions, and a releasing trip on each carrier engageable by an article to be carried when thrust upward between the tongs.

6. The combination of a traveling endless chain guided for movement in a fixed path, a series of carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of oppositely swinging downward-opening tongs ivoted to each of the carriers and automatically movable into their lower closed positions, a pair of links on each carrier supplemental to the tongs for moving them and for locking in their separated open positions, means dependent upon, the movement of the carriers for successively actuating the said pairs of links to separate the tongs of the said pairs and lock them in their separated open positions, and a releasing trip on each carrier engageable by an article to be carried when thrust upward between the tongs, the said trip when disengaged remaining in its lowermost position irrespectively of the move ment of the said links.

7. The combination of a traveling endless chain guided for movement in a fixed path, a series of carriers secured to the chain at regular intervals, a pair of oppositely swinging downwardppening tongs pivoted to each of the carriers and automatically movable into their lower closed positions, a lock on each carrier for holding the tongs in their separated open positions..v a cam tor succesA sively separating the tongs of the several pairs and for slnrcessivel) moving the said locks into their operative positions, and :i resilient means .for supporting the cam hereby it is permitted to yield after the said locks have reached their extreme posilions.

ln an article carrying device for a con' rever mechanism, the coml'iinatioi'i of a frame, oppositely disposed tongs pivotcd intermediate their ends in the frame, a vertically slidalile pin in the trame, links connecting said pin with the upper ends of the tongs, and means within the area iuclosed b v the tongs for forcing upward the said pin when it is at its lowest` position in the frame.

9. In a conveyer mechanism, the combination of a traveling endless chain, means for guiding the said chain in a fixed path, a frame secured to the chain, opposilely disposed tongs connected with the frame and adapted to encircle the article to be carried, a transverse pin vertically slidable in the frame, toggle links connecting the said pin and the tongs, the ends of the said transverse pin extending beyond the frame, and a cam positioned adjacent the line of travel to cooperate with the ends of the pin and force it downward to its lowermost position.

10. In a conveyer mechanism, the combination of a traveling endless chain, means for guiding the said chain in a fixed pa,th,la frame secured to the chain, oppositely disposed tongs pivoted intermediate their ends in the frame, a transverse pin vertiomy slidahle in the frame, toggle links co ecting the pin with the upper ends of the gings", a cam adapted to engage with the pin and force it to its lowest position, and means within the area inclosed by the tongs for pushing the said pin upward when in its lowest position.

1l. In an article carrying device for a eiinveyer mechanism, the combination of a. frame comprising two vertically1 arranged plates spaced from each other, a transverse pintle passing through the lower ends of the plates, a pair of oppositely disposed tongs journaled intermediate their ends upon the said pintle, a transverse pin vertically slidable in slots formed in the p'lates, toggle links connecting the said pin with the upper ends of the tongs, the said pin extending outward beyond the plates, and a verticallv movable rod extending through an opening in the pintle and ada oted on upward movement to contact with the toggle pin to force it upward.

In testimony whereof 1 affix my signature, in presence ot two witnesses.

GEORGE DANIEL FRANCISCO.

Witnesses RAY F. SMrrH, DUDLEY T. FisHEn. 

